Q4 IMPACT REPORT June - August 2025
PREPARED FOR BRINT & AMANDA RYAN
For more information, please contact:
Brandon Buzbee Vice President for University Advancement 940-565-2010 brandon.buzbee@unt.edu Marilyn K. Wiley, Ph.D., C.F.A. Dean G. Brint Ryan College of Business 940-565-3034 marilyn.wiley@unt.edu
Dear Brint and Amanda,
Thank you for your ongoing support of and leadership to the University of North Texas, and specifically to the G. Brint Ryan College of Business. We are pleased to share this quarterly update on how your investments are making a difference. One of the most impactful items to share was the news in late spring when the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board approved the last remaining matching funds from the Texas Research Incentive Program. As this opportunity was an integral part of the opportunity presented to you in 2018, we are pleased that your gift will result in a match of $29,822.310.76. We are working with President Harrison Keller on the proposed use of these funds, and we look forward t o outlining the plan very soon. We can’t say thank you enough for making a difference at UNT. On behalf of our faculty, staff, and students, thank you.
Sincerely,
Brandon Buzbee Vice President for
Marilyn K. Wiley, Ph.D, CFA
Dean, G. Brint Ryan College of Business
University Advancement
Financial Overview
Portfolio Allocation
Endowment Overview
The UNT Foundation plays a crucial role as an essential strategic partner to the University of North Texas, managing and growing private assets through investment management to benefit the university’s mission. The Foundation ensures that the endowments adhere to our generous donors’ intent and remain sustainable for both current and future generations.
For the 12 months ended August 2025, the portfolio is estimated to have increased 10.5%. Portfolio perfor- mance was impacted by equities, which were up 12.8%, real assets, up 6.0%, fixed income, up 5.6% and hedge funds, up 2.4%. Regarding equities, developed international equities, North American equities and emerging market equities produced returns of 16.2%, 11.2% and 10.7%, respectively. Mega and large caps vastly outperformed mid and small caps and growth far outperformed value. The S&P 500 was up 14.4% for the fiscal year ended August 2025, which was comprised of three distinct periods. First, the S&P 500 was up 8.8% through February 19, 2025. This period included the build up to and the immediate aftermath of the Presidential election. Second, the S&P 500 decreased 18.9% through April 8, 2025. During this period, which was punctuated by Liberation Day, markets grew nervous about tariffs and their impact on the economy. Third, the S&P 500 increased 29.7% through August 31, 2025. This period was highlighted by an acceptance of the tariffs and increasing excitement about artificial intelligence, its impact on certain companies and the economy at large.
Historical Returns
Note 1 - The investment income and historical returns presented are net of individual investment manager fees, but gross of the foundation’s management fee. This method aligns with standard NACUBO reporting practices and ensures comparability to our peers. Our benchmark sets a high standard for performance at 75% equity and 25% fixed income. Note 2 - The management fee charged by the foundation encompasses accounting, internal investment management services, and coordination with Advancement, college deans, donors, and other university partners. Our fee remains competitive, being at or below the endowment management fees of our peers, as reported by NACUBO.
Expanding Excellence In Research Because of your vision and support, the G. Brint Ryan College of Business has been able to expand the number of endowed professors during the summer. The current roster of endowed faculty members is twenty, ranging in disciplines across the college. New Faculty
Dr. Richard Cazier Dr. Cazier, an associate professor in the Department of Accounting, graduated from Brigham Young University with undergraduate and master degrees in accounting, and from the University of Iowa with his PhD. He teaches financial accounting and his research interests revolve heavily around financial reporting choices and securities litigation risk.
Dr. Ling Ge Dr. Ge, an associate professor in the Department of Information, Technology & Decision Sciences, holds a Ph.D. from the University of Texas at Austin. Dr. Ge’s research focus is in machine learning, artificial intelligence and business analytics.
Dr. Dan Kim Dr. Kim, a professor in the Department of Information, Technology & Decision Sciences, and is ranked 47 th among the world’s top 2% of information systems scientists. He focuses his research in multidisciplinary areas such as cybersecurity, trust, privacy, AI, social media analytics and others. Dr. Kim holds a Ph.D. from the State University of New York at Buffalo
Dr. David Nowicki Dr. Nowicki, a professor with a joint appointment to the Department of Supply Chain Management and the Depart- ment of Mechanical Engineering, is a director of the Center for Logistics & Supply Chain Management. He holds a Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin in industrial engineering.
Dr. Victor Prybutok Dr. Prybutok, a regents professor of decision sciences, earned his Ph.D. in environmental analysis and applied statistics from Drexel University. He has has authored more than 300 journal articles and 350 conference presentations/ proceedings, and several book chapters in applied and theoretical areas of information systems measurement, quality control, risk assessment, applied statistics and statistics instruction.
Dr. Rhonda Reger Dr. Reger, a professor in the Department of Management, serves as the department’s doctoral program coordinator. She earned her Ph.D. in strategic management from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. Dr. Reger’s research focuses on socio-cognitive perspectives in strategy and entrepreneurship.
Dr. Brian Sauser Dr. Sauser, professor and chair of Supply Chain Manage- ment, holds a Ph.D. from Stevens Institute of Technology. Before joining UNT, Dr. Sauser held positions as assistant professor, School of Systems and Enterprises at Stevens Institute of Technology; project specialist with ASRC Aero- space at NASA Kennedy Space Center; program administra- tor with the New Jersey – NASA Specialized Center of Research and Training at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey and laboratory director with G.B. Tech Engineer- ing at NASA Johnson Space Center. His research focuses on management of complex systems.
Dr. Hoda Vaziri Dr. Vaziri, an assistant professor in the Department of Management, earned her Ph.D. from the University of Texas at Arlington. Her research focuses on work-nonwork balance, individual multiple identities and employee well-being, with a particular emphasis on structural and contextual influences on these dynamics.
Dr. Jianren Xu Dr. Xu, is an associate professor in the Department of Finance, Insurance, Real Estate and Law, holds a Ph.D. from the University of Georgia. His work has appeared in Financial Times top-50 journals and has lifted the Risk Management program to a top 20 ranking internationally.
Broadening Research Across UNT When the university was approved to access the first level of TUF funds in 2023, this provided more than $21 million in new state research funding. Reaching the second and highest level of funding required us to meet additional milestones that included sustained external support for research in two consecutive years. Those milestones had to be achieved by the end of fiscal year 2025. We met the mark in FY 2024, and needed to surpass $50 million in funded research expenditures this year. That would permanently double the amount of TUF funds for UNT. We were on track to do this until unexpected cuts in federal research funding were announced. Without your investments in our faculty, we could not have made up that loss. While we are still waiting for the final audit of expenditures, we are optimistic that we have met this milestone. The G. Brint Ryan College of Business received additional external philanthropic support and, in early May, we created an internal request for proposals (RFP) and encouraged all faculty to submit impactful research opportunities that aligned with their depth of expertise. We awarded 69 grants, varying in scope and range across research disciplines, with a cap of no more than $10,000. A number of awards were made to Ryan endowed faculty members. ACCOUNTING Drs. Richard Cazier, Jianren Xu & Jeff McMullin “Enterprise Risk Management and the Predictive Power of Risk Factor Disclosures.” Exploring the development and data work relat- ed to sophisticated AI-driven assessment of the ability of firms’ risk factor disclosures to predict adverse firm-specific events.
INFORMATION, TECHNOLOGY & DESICION SCIENCES Dr. Zhiling Guo
“Enhancing AI Safety and Trust in Clinical Decision Support Systems: A Collaborative Pilot with Mayo Clinic.” Research focused on evaluat- ing AI safety and creating actionable evaluation tools that identify and measure gaps in safety and trust between AI systems and their human users. “I Can See Clearly Now: The Role of Social Media, Traditional Media, and Reputation on Investor Support.” In reviewing close to five thousand negative events impacting S&P 1500 firms between 2014 to 2018, research was designed to delve deeper into the impact of social media approval positively impacting investor sup- port, independent of traditional media approval and reputation. “The Spotlight Effect: How Device Screen-Ambient Lighting Interactions Influence Healthy Choices.” Research focused on consumer spending choices using their smartphones or tablets to purchase food (e.g. groceries, online food orders, etc.) and expanding knowledge that demonstrates that when consumers use a device in a dimly lit space, their heightened attention focus leads to healthier food choices.
MANAGEMENT Dr. Rhonda Reger
MARKETING Dr. Blair Kidwell
SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT Drs. David Nowicki, Michael Bomba & Jolanda Prozzi
“Reshoring/Nearshoring Symposium.” Conducting a symposium with stakeholders within the public, private, and nonprofit sectors to discuss the current trends in moving or relocating production and its impact on the Texas-Mexico trade corridor.
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